How Being a Young Professional > Student

Being a student at university was pretty great. Sure, it was a lot of work and there were definitely times when I thought I was going to die from studying-induced exhaustion, but there were some awesome perks. Like being able to sleep in until noon on a Tuesday, and day drinking on a Thursday afternoon. Having learning as my only real responsibility was an awesome introduction to adulthood.

That said, I love being a young adult in the working world too. I love having money and working on real projects instead of case studies. I like working from 8 to 5 and getting to relax afterwards, instead of always thinking about my next due date.

Financially, being a employed full time as a young adult is worlds better than being a student. Being a student and relying on student loans as my only source of income (except during my co-op work terms when I worked full time) sucked. I never had money to do anything, and when emergencies happened, I’d go into a panicked tail spin.

No, as far as money is concerned, being employed full time is pretty sweet. Here are some little things that have changed, that I’ve taken major pleasure in:

My Gas Tank is Always Full

When we were in University, my husband and I would regularly spend just $5, $10, or $20 on gas at a time. Whatever we could afford to stave off the dreaded empty tank light.

Now that I’m a “grown-up”, I have a gas budget, and I always have enough cash to fill my gas tank without even thinking about it. In fact, I can actually afford to keep my car in good repair now. My car never wants for an oil change, or an alignment, or windshield washer fluid. Having a well maintained car is one of adult life’s little pleasures.

I Don’t Live in Perpetual Fear of a Sick Pet

My husband and I got our hypoallergenic kitty Mia when I was going into third year of university. As students, it was pretty irresponsible to drop hard earned cash on a pure-bred kitty, but her hypoallergenic-ness (<–made up word alert) meant she didn’t aggravate my husband’s allergies. Plus she’s just awesome, and I don’t regret spending the money on her for a second. For the two years that we had her while I was a student, I was terrified that something bad would happen and I’d have to take her to the vet and face a huge vet bill.

Now that I’m a wage-earning adult and I have a small emergency fund (plus a substantial line of credit), I don’t fear pet sickness anymore. I’m financially prepared.

I Can Buy Paint

Tomorrow night, my husband and I are going to buy paint for the first floor of our three-bedroom rental. This is a pretty big departure from our normal strategy when it comes to living. As students and for the first few years of my working life, I didn’t spend any money on comforts or the aesthetics of my surroundings. I couldn’t afford to. Furniture was thrifted or dragged off someone’s sidewalk, and cheapness was the name of the game when it came to rent.

Now, I can actually afford to improve my surroundings a little, which is pretty awesome.

There were lots of things I miss about being a student. I miss the flexible schedule. I miss having only two priorities in life: Getting A’s and drinking. I miss a lot of things, but I don’t miss having no money. That is definitely one of the biggest upsides to growing up.

What’re your favourite things about earning a steady income? I want to know!

Stay Up To Date

I totally agree with this! I love being able to have a job where I have the luxury of “turning off” after my day. I had a weird introduction into the working world in terms of 5 more years of academia with grad school that is an odd mix of school/work. Either way, it’s been a pretty awesome transition!

I don’t have an oil tank any more, but I imagine I would love to just say “fill it up” instead of “what’s the lowest amount you’ll deliver?” – the answer if 300 L by the way, which is roughly $300.

PS, you had a great view of the Commons! Awesome location for walks, relaxing outside!

As a professional actress I wouldn’t know much about having a steady income 🙁 But for the times I’ve been on tour with a show and I get a per diem in addition to my salary, it’s so nice. I want it ALL the time 🙂

I’m so glad that I’m no longer a student. There are so many positives. My friend and I were just joking about it the other day and mentioned how we used to never fill our gas tanks up all the way because we were so broke – it’s scary now to think about how just a $50 gas tank could have broke us.

I definitely have vivid memories of that sort of thing, I’m glad that I’m not in that situation anymore!

Ashlee

I’m so happy to be a working girl! I turn off my work as soon as I leave the office and it feels great. I agree about the gas too! My friends and I would scrap pennies when in school just to have some gas in our tanks. Now I fill up weekly and that’s my only time at a gas station. Win!!!

I was good with money when I started university (but that’s probably because it wasn’t my money), my debt started to grow after graduation. I was still living at home when I was going to uni and I didn’t have to pay for anything, so I didn’t really have any financial worries back then. Still, I prefer the working life and although I wasn’t very much prepared for it after I finished uni, I am glad I have learned (and still learning) to manage and control my finances. Better late than never, right? 🙂

Ah I can totally relate. There were some truly awesome things about being in school, but working 9-5 comes with it’s perks as well. I’d say my favorite thing is that I feel like I’m moving forward financially versus in college where I was moving “backwards” if you factor in student loans. Now I’m paying down student loans, building an emergency fund, and even if the progress is slow it’s moving in the right direction.

TIPIT

Hi Jordan,

I’m really happy for you that you now discover what it is to have free nights and weekend!! This is wonderful, after going in University until mid-twenties, it’s a so wonderful feeling to “turn the switch OFF” at exactly 5PM. ENJOY! 🙂

I felt exactly the same at 25…. until a few years later and I was regretting the free schedule of students! I don’t want to ruin the moment, I know you will enjoy this for a while, and wish you never get bored.

But the “rat race” eventually got me… now I just turned 33 and I’m looking for a way to get out of it (which is why I discovered this blog). Not that I don’t like my job, I love it, but the schedule just doesn’t fit the life I wish to live…

Anyway, as I said, I don’t want to spoil this moment, you sure deserve it, so enjoy and I wish you a lovely “new life”! 🙂

Definitely agree Jordann. My first two years out of university I still had a bunch of friends finishing up their degrees, and I sometimes longed for those Thursday afternoons. After we were all in the workforce together though, our collective standard of living and stuff we are able to do just went up so much. I think sometimes we romanticize certain parts of student life after we leave. For example, sure it was fun to be able to “celebrate the first Wednesday of the week” until the wee hours – but I also am now able to admit that I hate the taste of most discount beers!